The present invention relates to a dispenser device for powdered product comprising a removable reservoir for storing a product in pulverulent, powder, ground, or granular form, which will be referred to herein as powder form or a powdered product, such as ground coffee, tea, chocolate, etc., for preparation of a brewed, or infused, beverage, the product being adapted to be used with an appliance for preparation and distribution of such beverages.
An appliance for preparation and distribution of hot beverages, for example starting from ground coffee, generally comprises a cold water reservoir, an electric pump, a boiler and a brewing, or infusion, head providing a chamber adapted to receive a certain quantity of ground coffee in order to inject therein a predetermined quantity of hot water coming from the boiler, the resulting beverage being then directed towards a collecting container, such as a cup or carafe. At the end of the brewing cycle, the brewing head must be opened in order to be able to introduce a new ground coffee dose after having evacuated the grounds previously brewed. The ground coffee is conveyed to the brewing chamber from a dispenser of the product in powder form. These appliances require a regular filling of the reservoir of the dispenser, an operation that requires time and much of attention by the user, especially when access to the reservoir is in a small space.
To mitigate these disadvantages, certain appliances have removable reservoirs. U.S. Pat. No. 2,138,204 describes such an appliance, in particular a coffee mill with a removable coffee bean reservoir. The reservoir has, in its lower part, a distribution opening adapted to be sealed by a sliding plate. The plate is maintained in position by a spring and can slide, between its open and closed positions, while being actuated, from outside of the machine, by a control lever. Such an appliance presents the disadvantage of requiring the user to perform a manual actuation.
An improved solution is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,626,085 relating to coffee grinder having two removable reservoirs each provided with an automatic closure of its dispensing orifice. In particular, the dispensing orifice of each reservoir is closed automatically by a sliding trap door pushed by a return spring, opening occurring when the user presses on a control knob of a solenoid, which pushes the same sliding plate into its open position, against the return spring. This grinder is provided, certainly, of an automatic closing device for the dispensing of coffee beans in the direction of a grinding chamber, but this opening is controlled by the user.
A similar solution is described in the patent document WO2004/098361, where the opening or the closing of a sliding door sealing an orifice of the removable reservoir is controlled by a solenoid or magnets. However, the installation of the reservoir is effected by a horizontal sliding motion, which implies the presence of guide rails over a long length inside the machine, while rendering the handling of such reservoirs of elongated form and lateral handle difficult for the user.
Another solution is described in the French patent document FR 2 713 906 relating to a grounds dispenser for an automatic coffee machine comprising a grounds reservoir positioned in a removable manner in a corresponding seat formed in the case, or housing, of the machine. The grounds reservoir comprises proportioning, or dosing, blades rotated by an electric motor in the housing, the dispensing orifice being closed by halting of the blades in a given position, which blades have dimensions correspond to those of the dispensing orifice that the blades border. Functioning satisfactorily, this solution proves however to be of a rather complex construction.
The German document DE 203 00 928 U1 describes another solution for a removable coffee bean reservoir for a coffee machine comprising a central orifice closed by two shutters of arched form driven in rotation relative to one another when the reservoir is rotated around its vertical axis inside the machine. However, this solution presents the disadvantage of being useable only with coffee beans having dimensions greater than that of the opening existing between the two shutters when they are in their closing position. In addition, it proves not only to be of complex construction, but also to be complicated to operate by the user, who must then rotate the reservoir himself, while carrying out several phases of rotation, each one corresponding to a specific function: installation of the reservoir, then several possibilities of opening of the shutters, then closing while turn it in the other directions, etc.